Here Comes The Boom
by unforgiven666
Summary: AU-ish? On the Boat, something changes. There are no heroes to save them this time. One-shot.


Here Comes the Boom by uh me? It's a spin off of the Boat thing during Dark Knight. I wrote this for my English 100 class and I had to keep the Joker name of it, so yeah but its pretty obvious.

"In one hour, your ship will explode." The voice then cracks through the speaker system, "Have I mentioned there is one possible way to save yourself? I will let one ferry get to the other side. The detonation key will explode one of the other two ferries and you will have a better chance to live. Good luck." A devilish laughter echoes through the speaker. "Oh, by the way thought you should know one ship is filled with criminals."

I am twenty one years old when I hear this. These kind of things only happen in movies, you know the whole "if you save yourself, you will kill a about hundred people." But its not only me, there are about hundred other people on this ferry, a hundred average people with my loved ones mixed in. The communication lines have been shut off and there is baby crying in the background. There aren't any ex marines to save us all or any everyday superhero to save us.

My family, like many others, rushed onto a boat when the terrorist threatened the city saying the bombs are on the bridge when its really here. The captain and his crew discovered its position on the underbelly of the ship. The captain brought up this strange black radio with a key thing back up to show the rest of us.

We have the key, a chance very small one but one all the same. What if the voice is just messing with our minds and it is a key to our own bomb? How can we trust the terrorist to keep his word? Does a psycho maniac keep his word? This would be a great time for my religious watching of Criminal Minds to kick in.

After the announcement, chaos erupted among us. Some of the passengers were up in arms, shouting at the shell shocked captain. He just stood limp in his bright yellow coat and grey hair. While others were just trying to take the situation in and some held the innocent children on board.

Soon the adults were crying for a vote. To determine if we should detonate the bomb or if we should just leave it alone. A decision on if the lives on this ship are more important than the lives of the others. Even if the ship does blow up, is it worth it? To even think of pressing the button?

Would it make us evil to press the button that explodes roughly 100 people? Criminals are still people. People who have made mistakes but is our lives worth the guilt of killing them? And if we don't, will it be considered suicide or will we be martyrs? Refusing to kill because it goes against our very morals or stupid cause we denied our self preservation gene?

So the ships crew began to pass out little pieces of paper to every adult on the ship. One by one, we wrote our answer on the paper. Everyone's life depends on it. Even the little crying baby in the background. I watch the crew member gradually move closer to me and a little white scrap paper was placed in my hand. I gently hold this paper like my life depended on it and not just my life but the lives of the people on these three ships. I quickly write my answer on the paper.

Twenty minutes have passed, and no bombs have gone off. The votes are being tallied by the captain. It is quiet now, all you can hear is the water against the boat and the shifting of the paper. The sun has abandoned us for a better place and I wish I could

follow it. The automatic lights have turned on and I now stare at the little hand moving slowly. I never thought my life would be this close to death in my early age.

"42 to 40." The gruff voice of the captain says, "In favor of detonating the bomb." He held the small black piece that held hundreds on lives in the balance. We watch as his thumb wavered over the small button. His thoughts echoing mine, "will doing this make us evil?" Would pressing the button make us worse than the terrorist? After all, evil is not defined by our justified actions but how others preserve our actions. Like how Hitler was trying to help Germany and he is now the icon of evil. Are we righteous?

The captain let out a sigh and put the detonator down. He was unable to do it. A wave of sadness swept through the passengers. Daughters began crying on their parents shoulders, the little baby cries out as well. Families cuddled up to each other and held on for dear life. One person went to the bathroom and flipped, I can hear his desperate shouts on what he hasn't done. A little girl sitting near me prays with her family to God for someone to rescue them. I stare blankly at the clock, 35 minutes have passed.

A man in a suit stands up and walks angrily toward the captain. "Give me the detonator, I'll press it" he demands. The captain looks up to the man with a sad expression. "We all voted on it and I am not going to die so some criminal will live. They already made their decision on their life." The suited man says. The captain hands him the detonator.

As the small black switch exchanges hands, the level of hope rises in the boat. There is a chance we will live this horrible experience. The huddling people looked up at the suited man that was hopefully to be our savior. I can only ponder is this man truly understands what he is doing. He is condemning himself to save the lives of others, he would be our martyr because if we do survive, we have the law. The family members of the people he kills will demand for our martyrs death and our legal system will give it to them. There would be no denying that he killed a hundred people to save himself and a 100 other people.

The suited man cradles the box that could save us all in his hands. His pale hands standout more than the tanned captain. The mans blue eyes bear into the button, his cause is wavering. What if it bows our ship or the ship with the hundred people just like us? All eyes are on him as he hands it back to the captain, unable to do it. Everyone returns to their sorrows. The captain comforts the young man in the suit, they perfectly understand each other.

"Forty five minutes have passed, and no ship has exploded." The megalomaniacs voice spews from the speakers. "Cowards, still think your government or God will save you? Fools, no one can save you now but yourself." He starts laughing like a hyena, or that's what it sounds like through the bad connection.

The cries of the people die off as the chants of the religious get louder. As if the to deify his words, that there is a God and he is going to save us. We are not evil, we are ordinary people thrown into the plot of the angry. Why wouldn't we be saved by God, for we have not wronged him and these people believe. The terrorist continues to laugh through the speaker. I wonder if he can hear us and why is he doing this to us. We haven't done anything to him. Five more minutes have passed.

"Good one people, good one. Seeing as you all want to chant how about some music till your deaths?" The voice cracks through the speaker and soon a loud beep is heard and Beethoven's 5th Symphony is played throughout the ship. It drowns out the sound of the singing and the waves. Seven minutes to live.

Even through I can't hear anyone's voice, I can see their praying becoming harder. A little girl wishes even though I can not hear her face tells me all I need to know. This isn't the way anyone of us on the ship wanted to go die. We might be going in a bang but we are not fighting for our right to live or the rights for the children to live. So we all sit and hold each other as the song plays.

Three minutes till detonation and I have made a decision. I quickly stand and walk towards the captain and the man. They look at me, with a sad comforting look. I turn away from their faces and grab the box. No hesitation, no regrets. I then pressed the button.

"Boom!" I was 21 when I made the decision.


End file.
